


If You Need Me, I'll Be Right Here

by 12407am



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Demons AU, Eventual Smut, Humor, Lee Taeyong is a literal loser, M/M, NCT Ensemble - Freeform, Or Is he?, Ten is a demon, also Mark Lee is the most straight person on the planet Earth, more tags & characters to be added soon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-08 13:44:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15244686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/12407am/pseuds/12407am
Summary: Lee Taeyong’s life is more or less boring—he is your average young man, not-so-long-ago graduated from college where he didn’t do much, just slacked off and prayed he could cheat on every exam possible. He’s never been good with people, that’s why he has practically no close friends and he can’t make them even at SM Pictures—one of the biggest film studios in South Korea, where he works as one of many minor script editors. Unfortunately, he catches himself having a major crush on one of his male colleagues, and there’s no chance he’ll tell his only friend Mark, who seems to be straighter than Hulk Hogan, about it.However dull his life may looks like, it all changes after just a single email which seems to be one of these stupid “pass it to your crush or a demon will appear in your house!” kind of emails. He does the same thing every person who isn’t either first time on the internet or a common middle-aged parent would do—he ignores the message and deletes it, forgetting about it right after reading.That’s why he can’t be more surprised when the following day comes, and he wakes up just to see a young pretty man who sits on his kitchen table and only by complete coincidence happens to be a wholesome demon.





	If You Need Me, I'll Be Right Here

**Author's Note:**

> so, uh. although this isn't my first thing to write in english, it is the first thing to publish here, so please, be kind with me or something. also, this is my very first attempt at humor, so i hope it's actually funny. at least a little bit.  
> anyways, enjoy!

For Taeyong, almost every single day of his life starts very similar, if not literally the same. He wakes up at 6 am, eats the food he founds in the fridge or if there is nothing to found, he also eats nothing. He takes a quick shower, luckily for him if water is still warm because other tenants like to shower in the middle of night for reasons completely unknown, then he puts on some random clothes that currently are still wearable and don’t smell like he washed them more than two weeks ago. He has to leave to work at 7 because commuting from Seoul’s suburbs to its center is rather time-consuming, especially if subway isn’t enough and you need to take at least two buses. But how can he complain when his job isn’t really that bad and is actually well-paid, also people are rather nice and kind, they just don’t talk with him much because even if they do, his replies are brief and not really encouraging. That’s why they all stick to simply exchanging greetings and smiles, and rarely small talks but it’s totally okay for Taeyong since he is tired from more than even a five minutes long conversation. Actually, he is really grateful to most of them for proper reading his nonverbal signs to not bother him if it’s not necessary, since he hates being distracted from the work he currently tries to focus on. So the day passes like this, and he is once again in his flat, eating late dinner if he didn’t eat it on his way back, and preparing himself to sleep.

This particular day isn’t any different from others—Taeyong wakes up at 6 as always, yawning really loudly while hitting that snooze button on his phone, letting himself sleep at least ten minutes longer. If there is something he hates more than getting up this exorbitantly early, it is yet to find out for him. His head starts hurting even from thinking about another day at work and he doesn’t notice when these ten minutes passed when he hears the alarm, once again reverberating in the seclusion of his room. Taeyong sighs loudly after turning the sound off and rubs his eyes rather violently, hoping that this will make him more awake. He draws back the curtains and lets sunrays slide onto the wooden floor, feeling them tickling his naked skin with warmth.

Shortly after he founds out there is nothing edible in the fridge, he sighs once more and tries to ignore the growling sound his stomach is making. Stretching a few times doesn’t really help but there’s nothing more he can do so he takes a really quick shower, letting himself enjoy hot streams of water painfully flowing down his skin only for a brief moment and just minutes later he is standing in front of his closet, trying to pick something looking not entirely unwearable but, since he did the laundry quite a long time ago, there’s nothing like that to find. Nevertheless, he chooses the least rumpled pair of jeans and a plain black hoodie, which happens to be his usual set of clothes to wear.

It’s not like he can’t afford food or whatever else, he just doesn’t have enough time to go shopping or do some more demanding house chores, or so he tries to make himself believe. But it’s not entirely his fault, since the job as a script editor is much more time-consuming than he thought it’d be. Yet, he doesn’t even think of grumbling at it. He didn’t think he would have any job after graduating from Some Not Really Famous University in Seoul, especially considering the fact he studied literature there. And his presumptions weren’t that far from the truth—he barely got a job in some minor publishing agency. The salary was more than insufficient and he hardly made ends meet, sometimes had to starve himself severely. Thanks to the beloved CEO, the company went completely bankrupt after not even a year of existing and if it wasn’t for Taeyong’s manager, he definitely would be homeless now. She got him a job in SM Pictures, not telling him why and how, and if it wasn’t suspicious enough, she disappeared shortly after that. Taeyong doesn’t have any information about her whereabouts and he can’t contact with her but he definitely will be eternally grateful for what she did.

  
It’s almost 8 when he walks into the office, eyes nailed on his shoes and thoughts far away from the company’s building. He is wondering if he can finally go shopping after work for the first time in ages, when he hears the familiar voice calling his name.

“Hi, Taeyong” He lifts his gaze only to see a really bright smile belonging to one of his colleagues, the whiteness of his teeth unnaturally contrasting with tanned skin. His name is Nakamoto Yuta and he comes from Japan, one day just somehow emerged in South Korea but Taeyong doesn’t really bother how, even though he might have already told him that. “Early as always, aren’t you?”

Nakamoto Yuta is this type of person who is unknowingly annoying even without opening his mouth and saying anything. These people just exist, and for Taeyong it’s enough to give him a headache. Nevertheless, he smiles weakly and clears his throat before answering. “Hi.”

Yuta’s smile becomes even wider which starts to somewhat scare Taeyong. “How’s life?” He asks and follows Taeyong to his desk.

“You asked me about it yesterday as well” Taeyong sighs, sitting on the chair, and starts rooting in the drawers “and nothing changed from that time.” He puts a stack of paper sheets clipped together and pretends to look through it.

If there is something Yuta isn’t, it’s definitely not being undetermined. He leans over Taeyong slightly and he can feel Yuta’s eyes bored acutely into the back of his head. “Really? But the whole day passed. There must have happened something.” At this point, Taeyong can’t say if Yuta still tries to be nice or he has already started to make fun of the brown-haired man.

“Yuta” They both turn their heads to the other man who just stepped into the room. “Leave Taeyong alone and get down to work already, you asshole.” Yuta sighs and approaches his own desk, a smirk still on his face.

“If you change your mind, you can still go out with us after work.” He offers just before the third man stares him out.

“Not really but thanks.” Taeyong doesn’t lift up his eyes before Yuta sits down and actually starts looking for something on his computer, eventually making himself at least a bit useful.

Taeyong throws a quick glance at the other man and they exchange polite smiles.

Moon Taeil is probably the only person in this office who Taeyong can say he likes the most. They usually don’t talk at all which is even better for him since by that he can avoid many uncomfortable questions Yuta already asked him or plans to ask. He already was here when Taeyong came to the company for the first time, and at the beginning he simply didn’t give a hoot about him. The things started to change after Yuta and Kun—another foreign worker in Taeyong’s department, unfortunately located in the same office as them and similarly irritating as Yuta—decided to put their noses in Taeyong’s private life, making every passing day more and more obnoxious and bothersome. Since Taeil is the oldest one out there and he’s also been working in the company for the longest of them all, obeying him is like an unwritten rule which everyone respects. That’s why Taeyong’s suffering might not be entirely over, but it’s definitely not as troublesome as it was before. Although he knows Taeil doesn’t do that because of pity but only to have peace and quiet at his workplace, he still consider him as the most friendly and considerate person he knows here.

He looks at the man once again, admiring how someone this small can have such a big impact on the others, and gets back to work.

Not long after that, Kun steps into the room with loud “Hello” threw spontaneously into the space, with no one but Yuta answering him.

“It doesn’t hurt to answer, you know.” He pouts and sits himself down by desk right next to Yuta. “These two assholes.” He mumbles under his breath and starts unpacking his things. A minute full of silence didn’t even pass and he speaks again. “So, how’s your day Taeyong?” Kun asks sweetly, definitely putting Taeyong to the proof.

“It just started and you are on a good way to ruin it wholly.” Taeil answers instead, doesn’t even lift his gaze from the papers he is reading thoroughly. Kun mumbles something again and lowers his head, whispering some inaudible sentences to the friend seated beside him.

  
The break comes earlier than Taeyong thought so he closes the editing program on his computer and heads to the kitchen, stretching his arms above his head on the way. As he walks into the room, he immediately notices a slim and tall silhouette, standing back to him and preparing something to drink.

His heart instantly starts to beat twice faster and he can feel the sweat on his palms so he unconsciously wipes them on his jeans. Taeyong tries to calm himself down but it’s far from easy and yet somehow he manages to take a step forward, approaching the counter and standing right beside the other man. He can feel his gaze on his own face so he turns his head slightly and lets their eyes meet. The other greets him with a subtle smile and gets back to stirring his beverage but Taeyong still stares at him with the most awkward smile he’s ever had on his face.

Thankfully for Taeyong, Taeil comes to rescue him once again, walking completely oblivious into the kitchen and breaking the awkward silence which makes Taeyong realize what exactly he is doing. He immediately turns his head back and reaches to open the cupboard above him. Unfortunately for him, every single mug from the lower shelf is already in use so he just stares at the higher one, cursing himself in his mind for being too short. When Taeyong is just about to close the cupboard with embarrassment and look for another mug in dishwasher, the man standing next to him hands him the mug he just took down, giving him another smile, this time not really subtle and definitely more amused.

“Oh, hi Jaehyun.” Taeil finally speaks up while approaching the fridge which he then opens and looks for something unspecified. Taeyong’s heart still beats too fast but he can’t do anything about it so he tightens his grip on the mug, eyes wandering from one kitchen appliance to another. “How’s the work on ‘The Seventh Sense’ going? Are you guys near the end or you’re still stuck in the middle?” Taeil laughs while pulling a carton of orange juice out, and closes the fridge door rapidly. A loud thud starts echoing in the room but Taeil seems not to care at all and stands right between the other two.

“Nah, it goes awfully slow and I’m already more than tired of it. We can’t communicate with the scriptwriter in the way we’d want to so we’re like in a standstill.” Jaehyun sighs and bores his eyes into the mug he is holding in his left hand. “And you guys? How’s working on ‘Empathy’?”

Taeyong really does want to say something, actually speak to Jaehyun for the first time but the only thing he is able to do is just look at the two on his left, his jaws clenched so tightly he can’t say a single word. He is praying inwardly that Jaehyun won’t ask him anything because he doesn’t want to make himself an object of ridicule, as if he hasn’t done that already.

And yet once again, Taeil helps him unconsciously. “Even though our scriptwriter is a fine guy, it’s not much better here,” He grumbles and turns on the electric kettle “especially with these two clowns, you know, Yuta and Kun.” He puts the cup of instant soup he brought with himself onto the counter and opens it violently, making Taeyong squint from the abrupt and unpleasant sound.

“Oh” Jaehyun leans back against the counter and looks vapidly at some point in front of him. “These two.” He chuckles after a moment of silence and takes a sip of his drink, which happens to be coffee. “I feel so sorry for you two, I really do.” Taeyong just turned himself around when he notices Jaehyun heading to door. “I’ll be going now, good luck with your work.”

“Hey” Taeil catches him just before he disappears in the doorway. “Won’t you come for today’s dinner with us?” The question makes Jaehyun freeze in the middle of leaving the kitchen.

Taeyong’s palms start to sweat even more, knuckles white for holding the mug so tight. If Jaehyun comes, maybe he will also come… He can’t think about it properly because Jaehyun speaks up. “Nah, not really.”

The hope quickly leaves Taeyong and he sighs internally, the another chance of getting to know Jaehyun better wasted.

“You sure?” Taeil doesn’t want to concede so easily so he asks once again, pouring hot water into the cup. “The manager is paying.” He says bluntly and reaches for a spoon and a pair of chopsticks.

“I’ll pass.” Jaehyun reassures and this time he disappears from their eyes completely. “Maybe next time.” They can only hear his distant voice and then the silence sets in.

Taeil shrugs, grabs his cup with instant soup and carton of orange juice, and starts heading to door as well. “Are you going to stay here motionlessly with this mug in your hand for another five minutes like a total dumbass?” He throws a question at Taeyong and without turning around he walks out the room. Taeyong realizes he hasn’t even started making a tea he wants to drink so he lifts an electric kettle only to notice that there’s not enough water for him so he refills it and turns it on. While he is waiting for water to boil, he lowers his head and bores his eyes into his shoes ashamedly.

 

There is something about Jung Jaehyun that made Taeyong quiver internally when he saw him for the first time, and even after some time still makes. But Taeyong is more than unaware what in particular that thing is or if there is more than just a one thing. Is it his slim but well-built body or maybe soft facial features and yet strongly marked jaw, he doesn’t know but it doesn’t really matter.

Taeyong came to SM Pictures nearly a year ago and he immediately got a position as a script editor assigned with the rest of his current team. It was a few days after that when he saw Jaehyun for the first time—he came to their office to ask Taeil about some things related to the script he was editing back then. Taeyong didn’t know most people from their department and yet he immediately remembered his face and name. From that day, Taeyong has been trying to find out more about Jaehyun, pretending not to care and listen whenever his colleagues bring any topic related to him up, while in reality making mentally notes about everything that might be useful in the future. Thanks to that, he already knows that Jaehyun lives in an apartment in Gwangjin, a district just next to Gangnam, where their company is located. His parents are the owners of one of many Samsung stores in Seoul so he basically doesn’t have to work till the end of his life. Yet, he is here, working as a script editor and probably getting the same or very similar salary to Taeyong. It is one of many things that makes Taeyong impressed way beyond the common colleague from work would be.

But Taeyong could be unaware of these things, and he’d still admire Jaehyun regardless. He could watch Jaehyun through the glass separating their offices while he was reading or writing something on the script for hours and would never be bored. But since the manager changed Jaehyun’s team, the office also had to be changed. That’s why the only way of somehow observing Jaehyun is during their breaks which aren’t always at the very same time. Even though Taeyong can’t say he is satisfied with such turn of things, whenever he sees Jaehyun in the corridor or kitchen, it always brings him comfort. He loves the way Jaehyun lifts his hand to slightly cover his mouth every time he laughs a bit more than subtly; he loves how he runs his fingers through his soft brown hair constantly, making Taeyong’s heart skip a beat; he fights himself every time he sees his delicate yet strong looking hands not to stare at them too much or, even worse, touch them. He wants to speak to him so much it’s getting worse with each passing day and yet Taeyong is still scared he won’t be able to handle the conversation and only embarrass himself, even though he knows Jaehyun is too friendly and nice to actually laugh at him or try to make him feel uncomfortable. He was just about to say anything to him for quite some times but every single time he wanted to do that, he was interrupted either by someone else or Jaehyun himself as he decided to just leave from the room they were together. But Taeyong knows that sooner or later, he will speak up because only exchanging smiles without any words isn’t enough for him already.

  
His thoughts still far away from the work-related topics when he enters their office once again with mug full of green tea in one hand. He wouldn’t pay attention to what his colleagues are saying if he didn’t hear Jaehyun’s name coming out from Yuta’s mouth.

“So you’re saying that Jaehyun isn't coming with us today?” He asks and slurps while eating the noodles from the cup that Taeyong is sure is the same that Taeil brought with himself to the kitchen. “What a pity.” Yuta doesn’t even bother to sound worried.

“You’re talking like you don’t care but if you think about it, doesn’t it mean that he has some plans after work?” Kun, who is sitting right next to Yuta, takes the cup from him as well as chopsticks and eats the rest of the noodles. “Like, plans with someone.”

Yuta freezes with a mouthful of noodles, staring numbly at Taeil who is standing opposite to these two, leant against the wall while checking something on his phone. “I’ve never heard he has a girlfriend.”

“Maybe he got one recently.” Taeil says nonchalantly, not lifting his head as usual, eyes still bored into his phone’s screen. “We aren’t that close with that team to talk about such things.”

“Anyways, it doesn’t necessarily has to be a girlfriend.” Kun ignores him and drinks the remnants of soup. “It may be a boyfriend too.”

Taeyong gulps a bit too loudly because it catches his colleagues attention—even Taeil lifts his eyes from the phone. But, fortunately, it doesn’t last long, and they return to their interrupted conversation. He sits himself down and pretends to read the script but his attention is completely focused on what his colleagues are talking about.

“It can’t be” Yuta announces and stretches his legs onto the desk, fingers clenched together behind his head. “Just look at him and then look at me. He can’t like guys, I can feel it.”

“And now you’re sticking to the stupid stereotypes every normal person knows are anything but true.” Taeil sighs and keeps scrolling down something on his phone. Yuta pouts and mumbles something under his breath.

“Besides, even though you like that one guy from Production Department, it doesn’t mean you can say whether any other man likes men as well.” Kun notices, warily observing Taeil’s reaction but there isn’t any.

“Anyways.” Yuta ignores them while rolling his eyes. “I am ninety-nine percent sure that if he has someone, it’s a girl.”

“Just get back to work, you dumbasses.” Taeil finally moves from the place he’d been standing for quite some time and heads to the door.

“And where are you going?” Yuta asks, pulling down his legs from the desk and stretches his arms.

“A reconnaissance.” Taeil smirks and walks out the room, leaving the rest in more than a surprise.

“I think he has a thing for Jaehyun.” Yuta concludes teasingly and receives nothing but two exhausted sighs in reply.

  
The way back to his flat takes Taeyong much longer than it usually does since he finally decides to buy something to eat. His stomach growls from time to time and he even starts to think it began digesting itself. Maybe his diet hasn’t been very healthy recently but it isn’t easy to reconcile good eating habits with working for most of the day, he tries to make himself believe.

The long bus ride to his flat makes Taeyong start wondering. Is he gay, he doesn’t really know. He never really thought about it, and yet when he recalls the school times, no matter how many times his classmates and friends tried to find him a girl, the dates always were either awkward and stressful for him, and perhaps for the girl as well, or they never really occurred in the first place. Obviously, he talked to girls in his class but it never was anyhing serious. On the other hand, he sometimes realized he liked his male friends slightly more than he probably should have. When he was in college, he went to gay clubs a few times but after being picked up by either rather creepy or old guys, he gave up. And then, he met Jaehyun at the company, and that’s since when he isn’t capable of thinking about any other person in that way. And he knows he can’t live like this much longer. What is more, he can’t even imagine telling his only friend Mark about this. He loves the guy but, unfortunately, he is the type of person who, after saying to him that Taeyong just got laid by some random man, would say something like “Hey dude, you two must be very close bros!”. That’s why Taeyong is completely alone in his gay agenda and that’s why he has to take matters into his own hands as soon as possible.

By the time he gets home, the pain in his stomach actually disappears, leaving him with nothing but a numb feeling in his guts. It takes some strength to fight with himself not to lay down on his bed immediately after he walks into his room but he knows he must eat something. Thankfully, the preparation of instant soup isn’t very time-consuming so just a moment later he is sitting in front of his laptop, scrolling down the social media. The sound of fingers tapping against the keyboard is interrupted only by repetitive slurping. After finishing his meal, he is just about to shut the device down but he remembers to do one more thing.

He logs into an email website and a white glow from the monitor illuminates on his face. There are a few emails in the inbox folder, most of them somehow related to work so he decides to quickly browse them and answer tomorrow as soon as he gets to work. Out of habit, he also checks the spam folder since quite often some important emails are automatically misplaced there. Except for a few advertisements, there is one message which seems unusually out of place. Taeyong clicks on it skeptically, praying it isn’t some virus which will take over his computer. He starts reading the email with heart beating increasingly faster.

 

**from: 666realdemon666@gmail.com**

**to: kittyong10@gmail.com**

**no subject**

 

**˜”*°•.˜”*°• hello! •°*”˜.•°*”˜**

**let’s play a g̾a̾m̾e̾**

**if you don’t pass this email to *•.¸♡ the person you like ♡¸.•***

**immediately after you read it ✉**

**a ďệṃöń will appear in your h̴o̴u̴s̴e̴!**

 

**۪ ۫ вєѕт ωιѕнєѕ  ۪۫ ψ(｀∇´)ψ uwu**

 

“What the fuck is this clownery” Taeyong’s statement sounds more like a threaten than an actual question. He furrows his brows and moves the email to trash with disgust on his face. “Who even makes this shit anymore.”

The sound of closing his laptop is followed by a deep sigh, and Taeyong starts heading to the bathroom to take a quick shower. He stops in front of the mirror just before getting into the shower, swiftly analyzing his face. It isn’t anything extraordinary or significant—he never felt like he was handsome but somehow the sharp and slightly square jaw he is seeing in the mirror as well as plump and full pinkish lips seem at least a little appealing to him. He widens his almond-shaped eyes, hazel irises give the illusion of depth in the dim bathroom light, almost like they are blended with black pupils, and he runs his fingers through his auburn soft hair, trying to make them look at least a bit less messy. He has to attach more importance to the way he looks, otherwise there is no chance he’ll ever build enough self-confidence to talk to Jaehyun. Quick reassuring smile to himself in the mirror and right after that he is in the shower, rapidly washing himself with white feathery foam. Apart from bubbles floating near him, he could smell the vanilla scent wafting in the air, gently tickling his nostrils. In no time he finds himself in his comfy pajamas, face and body moisturized, skin brushing against soft cotton sheets of his bed. He doesn’t even know when he falls asleep.

  
And yet, another day comes, the alarm once again rings punctually at 6 am while sunrays are trying to break into his room through the beige drapery curtains. He sighs, hits the snooze button and lets himself sleep ten minutes longer as usual. But his peace doesn’t last long, and he has to get up and start another painfully normal day.

He does his usual morning routine, bashing himself on rather embarrassing thought that he is like one of these daily vloggers, filming the nth video of “Get Ready With Me!” series. He doesn’t want to admit it to himself but he likes to watch them from time to time. Only when there’s nothing else to do, of course. Just as he is opening the door to his kitchen, simultaneously thinking how good it is to finally have something to eat, he freezes motionlessly.

Taeyong’s heart starts to beat abnormally fast when he sees a young slim man, his dark shiny hair glowing in the morning sunlight as well as his tanned skin, partly covered by black fabric which is tied with black belt right around his waist. Slender, almost naked legs are crossed, the one on the top bouncing repetitively as he is sitting on Taeyong's kitchen table and studying his fingernails very closely, head tilting from one side to the other from time to time. He notices the man in the doorway after a while and greets him with a rather mischievous smirk.

“Did you maybe, by complete accident, summon a demon?”

**Author's Note:**

> so, here it is. let me know what you guys think about it, every comment as well as constructive criticism is of course looked forward to!  
> also, a beta is needed :(  
> see you soon!


End file.
